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Date: Wed, 3 Jun 92 17:12:40 -0500
From: del[at]-remove-ecn.purdue.edu (de l`abattoir)
Subject: updated tour dates
i just talked to sky records and they gave me the following info
for the end of the US tour:
12 June Dallas Club Clearview
13 Austin Liberty Lunch
14 Houston Fitzgeralds
15 New Orleans Tippetina
17 Birmingham Alabama Nick
19 Atlanta (TBA)
they also told me that after the last show,
"the rest of the band is going back and pat is staying in the
US to do some other stuff".
whatever that means... solo? hmmmm.
well. i have been silent long enough, i suppose. work does that to me.
being on the road for a few weeks with the jazz butcher was just what i
needed. lots and lots of miles, time sitting around before the
shows, setting up, soundchecks, greasy french fries and beer.
when the band connected with the audience (as i saw in baltimore, boston,
toronto, and chicago) the JBC were very good. the off-nights (playing
in dives to 50 people, or having to deal with unprofessional club staff),
it was tense.
it is obvious that pat and pete are the core of this incarnation of the JBC.
i am not certain how i feel about pete mimicing the eider style in _betty page_
and _partytime_, but he ripped through the newer material when needed.
_racheland_ always ended the normal set (as it does on _condition blue_ -
pat was furious that sky fucked up by switching the A&B sides - _monkeyface_
is not supposed to end it all. buy the creation release if you have the choice)
the first day in canade, pats face blew up - an abscessed tooth made him truley
look like the elephant man. how he continued for the 4 days until it was
finally pulled, i dont know. chicago, i think, was the turning point.
before then, the band wasnt consistent - cock ups by the bass and drum player
were frequent. with pats face back in order, and being back in a city he
liked, they shined for two shows. the first one was the "up" set, the next
night was the "down" set. they played during the 1st show a complete
improvisation piece entitled _beautiful snow white hair_, in tribute to
the fact that the soundman, iain ohiggins, had made the mistake of showing
them one of his baby pictures when he had snow white hair. needless to say,
ohiggins nearly lost it when pat began babbling lyrics. listening to the tape
later that night, pat was very pleased that they had pulled the improv off,
and felt that they were now ready for some serious playing.
look out california.
through all the interviews, and hinted during stage chat, pat admits the
causes of his current state of mind. i asked him "what next?" and he went
off, cursing the hipsters for embracing bands such as Carter the Unstoppable
Sex Machine, as they were once a group in pats shoes - aging, talented, but
not gaining the acceptance from serious work. they sold out. pat, detesting
that, probably will not. he *is* serious about his work with the Black Eg,
and had brought rough mixes for new songs along. i believe that the Black Eg
is not that far from the silly songs on _bath of bacon_, just that pat is
having to hide his involvement in it, so the Black Eg is as low-tech as possible
to throw people off. "maybe i will hang with the (von dämmerung) brothers."
he is not, though, the happy man he once was. several blows to the emotional
chin have stunned him a bit, and he is coping as best he can: (of _condition
blue_): "it is me screaming 'COME BACK' for 50 minutes." the "afghan vet at
a beach resort with a shotgun" is the outwardly charasmatic mr fish, scarred
from life wanting to end it all, soon. it is a man who has been shielded
from normal life encounters finally on his own and not knowing how to cope,
except through a very public forum, which he has often apologised for.
where will it lead? i think that some solo touring would be less hectic
and expensive than a full blown tour. he said that he hates the "idea of
a drummer. once a drum kit is on stage, the audience *expects* a rock and
roll show, which we arent, of course". sky records had recommended a drummer
over a drum machine, even though the JBC had just finished a european tour
witth that line-up. "without a drummer, the stage is transformed - it can
become theatre." a candleabra on the bass cabinet is a nod towards the theatre
experience.
longwinded babbling, that i had to share.
-david
"ive seen the future and its birdlike"